Rationale

Learning mathematics creates opportunities for and enriches the lives of all Australians. The Australian Curriculum: Mathematics provides students with essential mathematical skills and knowledge in number and algebra, measurement and geometry, and statistics and probability.

Key ideas

In Mathematics, the key ideas are the proficiency strands of understanding, fluency, problem-solving and reasoning. The proficiency strands describe the actions in which students can engage when learning and using the content.

Structure

The Australian Curriculum: Mathematics is organised around the interaction of three content strands and four proficiency strands.
The content strands are number and algebra, measurement and geometry, and statistics and probability. They describe what is to be taught and learnt.

Glossary

Year 3

Year 3 Level Description

The proficiency strands understanding, fluency, problem-solving and reasoning are an integral part of mathematics content across the three content strands: number and algebra, measurement and geometry, and statistics and probability. The proficiencies reinforce the significance of working mathematically within the content and describe how the content is explored or developed. They provide the language to build in the developmental aspects of the learning of mathematics. The achievement standards reflect the content and encompass the proficiencies.

At this year level:

understanding includes connecting number representations with number sequences, partitioning and combining numbers flexibly, representing unit fractions, using appropriate language to communicate times, and identifying environmental symmetry

fluency includes recalling multiplication facts, using familiar metric units to order and compare objects, identifying and describing outcomes of chance experiments, interpreting maps and communicating positions

problem-solving includes formulating and modelling authentic situations involving planning methods of data collection and representation, making models of three-dimensional objects and using number properties to continue number patterns

reasoning includes using generalising from number properties and results of calculations, comparing angles and creating and interpreting variations in the results of data collections and data displays.

partitioning areas, lengths and collections to create halves, thirds, quarters and fifths, such as folding the same sized sheets of paper to illustrate different unit fractions and comparing the number of parts with their sizes

recognising that in English the term ‘one third’ is used (order: numerator, denominator) but that in other languages this concept may be expressed as ‘three parts, one of them’ (order: denominator, numerator) for example Japanese

refining questions and planning investigations that involve collecting data, and carrying out the investigation (for example narrowing the focus of a question such as ‘which is the most popular breakfast cereal?’ to ‘which is the most popular breakfast cereal among Year 3 students in our class?’)

Year 3 Achievement Standards

By the end of Year 3, students recognise the connection between addition and subtraction and solve problems using efficient strategies for multiplication. They model and represent unit fractions. They represent money values in various ways. Students identify symmetry in the environment. They match positions on maps with given information. Students recognise angles in real situations. They interpret and compare data displays.

Students count to and from 10 000. They classify numbers as either odd or even. They recall addition and multiplication facts for single-digit numbers. Students correctly count out change from financial transactions. They continue number patterns involving addition and subtraction. Students use metric units for length, mass and capacity. They tell time to the nearest minute. Students make models of three-dimensional objects. Students conduct chance experiments and list possible outcomes. They conduct simple data investigations for categorical variables.